Well-known volunteer returns to council roots

After two previous terms as a councillor, the calling to represent the community is still strong.

Mackay Recreational Fishers Alliance secretary Alison Jones is looking forward to running for council in the 2020 local government election. Picture: Zizi Averill.

VOLUNTEERING has been a lifelong passion for Alison Jones.

After years of advocating for social justice and disability assistance, the calling to represent her community is still strong.

Mrs Jones will run for a position on Mackay Regional Council in the 2020 local government election in March. It is a moment she has been eagerly awaiting since 2016.

After two terms on council, from 2004-2008 and 2012-2016, Mrs Jones said she was excited about putting up her hand as an independent candidate this year.

Alison Jones will run for council in the 2020 local government election.

“I plan to run a low budget campaign. I believe I am who I am, not who I stand next to, so I will not be part of any team,” she said.

“I’ve spent the past four years reflecting on life and what I want to do, and I know that being a councillor and representing the community in that way is my calling.”

Mrs Jones’s passion for helping other began when she was very young.

After moving to Mackay from Dysart when she was 16, Mrs Jones met her husband at 19 and began volunteering for Turtle Watch, advocating for social justice, working in the disability sector and helping out at the Mackay Drop In centre. She is currently Mackay Recreational Fishers Alliance secretary and a member of the North Queensland Bulk Ports community reference group.

Alison Jones previously represented the community as a councillor for two consecutive terms.

Mrs Jones said she was never able to have children, so volunteering gave her something to focus on and nurture.

“I’ve always felt like I needed to contribute to the community in some way, it’s what I love doing,” she said.

“I’ve spent so much time getting to know people in the region and it was actually the community that encouraged me to run for councillor in the first instance.

“I didn’t think it was a job I could do at first, but when you have so much support behind you, you just need to have a little faith in yourself.”

If elected, Mrs Jones hopes to reconnect council with the community and ensure each suburb is receiving adequate representation in support.

The long-time local plans to be an active part of the community and look into the idea of bringing back council divisions.

“I’m disappointed to see that people still ask me which councillor represents their suburb, because I think that shows council has not stayed connected with the community,” Mrs Jones said.

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